Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 350, 798-808 (2004)

Shock-induced star formation in a model of the Mice

Joshua E. Barnes

In original form 2003 July 22

Abstract

Star formation plays an important role in the fate of interacting
galaxies. To date, most galactic simulations including star formation
have used a density-dependent star formation rule designed to
approximate a Schmidt law. Here, I present a new star formation rule
which is governed by the local rate of energy dissipation in
shocks. The new and old rules are compared using self-consistent
simulations of NGC 4676; shock-induced star formation provides a
better match to the observations of this system.